The Lord’s Supper

And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom. And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives. Matt 26:26-30

In this text, Jesus institutes what we refer to as the Lord’s Supper. We have adopted this name from the Apostle Paul’s letter to the church at Corinth where he made a distinction between the potluck fellowship feasts the church was engaging in and the commemoration ordinance that Jesus instituted on the night of his arrest. Fellowship and fellowship meals were an integral part of the early church as it struggled for survival. Many of the early Christians were impoverished because they sold all that they had, donated the money to the church, and depended on the church to sustain them. Some of the latter Christians had not done so and yet some of them were insensitive to their fellow believers during these potluck fellowships. In order to straighten this out, Paul had to show the distinction between the fellowship meals and the commemorative ordinance that Jesus had instituted. It was for that reason that Paul referred to the ordinance of the church as the Lord’s supper. The Lord’s Supper is not a meal for participants to satisfy their hunger nor is it for them to refresh themselves. It is a commemoration that Christians have been commanded to do in remembrance of Jesus until he returns for the church. This passage of scripture takes place immediately after Jesus had concluded eating the Passover meal with the twelve disciples and dismissed Judas Iscariot. The meal was over. Supper was over. Jesus took some of the unleavened bread and wine that was there as part of the Passover meal and used it to explain to his disciples exactly who he is. Paul, again, helps us in our theology concerning leaven when he likens it to sin or evil in the church. So after three years of ministry with these twelve men, how is it that Jesus defines himself to them? He first thanked God for the provisions.


I. The Unleavened Bread
A. This is My Body
i. Without Sin
ii. Sacrificed for Those who choose to follow Him

II. The Wine
A. Jesus’ spilled Blood
i. The Fruit of the True Vine
ii. Was Poured out for Many
iii. Takes away All of Our Sins



He didn’t just identify what the elements stood for but he also instructed them to partake of them. Eat the bread that you may identify that Jesus sacrificed himself so that you can be who you are. Greater love has no man than this; that a man lay down his life for his friends. All that follow Jesus should drink of the wine and be reminded that it is the blood of Jesus that washes away all of our sins. It is his blood that makes us okay with God. God cannot be satisfied with anything that we do of ourselves for that is as filthy rags in his sight. But God is completely satisfied with the fact that Jesus poured out his life to pay the sin debt that we all owed.


Robert C. Hudson
July 5, 2009